October roundup – Other releases

October 7

The Alice Faye Collection: Volume 2

Fox, 362 minutes, not rated, $49.98 (set)

Individual titles: $19.98

Five films featuring the husky-voiced singer of 1930s-1940s musicals. “Hollywood Cavalcade,” “The Great American Broadcast,” “Four Jills in a Jeep,” “Rose of Washington Square” and “Hello, Frisco, Hello” are featured. Extras include several featurettes, restoration comparisons, deleted scenes, outtakes, advertising and still galleries.

The Devil’s Chair

Sony, 90 minutes, not rated, $24.96

A chair at an abandoned mental hospital drags its victims to a demonic black hole, mutilating them along the way. Of course, a professor and his students go in search of the mystery. Extras: commentary, making-of featurette.

Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead

Fox, 91 minutes, not rated, $26.98

Also featured as a two-pack with the original Joy Ride: $34.98

Four friends going to Las Vegas break down in the desert. They borrow a car belonging to murderous psychopath trucker “Rusty Nail,” who hunts them down, tortures and kills some of them. Gore aplenty, I’m sure. Extras: two featurettes, storyboards.

Paranoid Park

Genius Products, 80 minutes, R, $19.95

Teen skateboarder Alex’s (Gabe Nevins) parents are going through a difficult divorce. He falls in with the boarding community of Portland, Ore., who meet at the Paranoid Park to skateboard. One night, Alex accidentally kills a security guard and then tries to cover it up. Lots of critics gave kudos to this one, but it misses the mainstream list because it seems to be one of those films that only critics got to see. No extras listed.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

MGM/Warner Bros., 123 minutes, not rated, $19.97

Original 1945 version of this classic finally gets a DVD release. Based on the Oscar Wilde horror novel about a man (George Sanders) who stays young while his portrait ages. Angela Lansbury was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Extras: commentary, short film “Stairway to Light,” cartoon “Quiet Please.”

Watership Down

Warner Bros., 101 minutes, PG, $19.97

A group of English rabbits leave their warren for the countryside in search of a safer home. Based on the bestselling book by Richard Adam. I’ve seen praises and jeers for this film; make of it what you will. Extras: two featurettes, storyboards.

October 14

Icons of Horror 3

Sony, 323 minutes, not rated, $24.96

Four classic Hammer films get their first release on DVD: “Scream of Fear,” “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll,” “The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb” and “The Gorgon.” No extras listed.

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan

New Line, 126 minutes, R

DVD: $27.98

Blu-ray: $35.98

Bio-pic of the famous warrior that conquered a great deal of the East in his day while seeking to unite all the Mongol tribes. Lots of bloody battles. Nominated for Best Foreign Film. In Mongolian, with English subtitles. Extras: Windows Media digital copy on the Blu-ray disc, meaning it won’t play on your IPod.

Stuck

Image Entertainment, 90 minutes, R

DVD: $27.98

Blu-ray: $35.98

Nursing home assistant Brandi (Mena Suvari) accidentally hits a homeless man (Stephen Rea). Not wanting to jeopardize her job, she drives home and parks the car in her garage, with the man still stuck in her windshield. Black horror/comedy is based on a true story. Extras: commentary; three featurettes, one of them showing the actual news footage from the incident.

October 21

Anaconda 3: Offspring

Sony, 91 minutes, R, $24.96

David Hasselhoff trades in his “America’s Got Talent” gig temporarily to star as a mercenary that joins a team looking for some genetically-altered anacondas that have escaped from a top-secret lab. Where’s KITT when you need him? No extras listed.

Gangsters Collection: Volume 4

Warner Bros., 429 minutes, not rated, $59.92

Five more gangster films from the Warner Bros. vaults never before released on DVD: “The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse,” “The Little Giant,” “Larceny, Inc.,” “Invisible Stripes” and “Kid Galahad.” Each features commentary, shorts, newsreels, classic Warner Bros., cartoons, trailers and more. Also includes the feature-length documentary, "Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film," which takes the viewer on an inside look of every aspect of the crime genre and how it came about.

The Lazarus Project

Sony, 100 minutes, PG-13, $24.96

Ben (Paul Walker) is an ex-con who foolishly goes back to crime. Now he’s facing lethal injection for his part in a robbery/murder. But he wakes up in a weird psychiatric ward, informed that he’s now the groundskeeper. Now he has to figure out if he’s just lucky or part of something sinister. No extras listed.

Love For Sale

Image Entertainment, 106 minutes, R, $27.98

Life is hard for Trey (Jackie Long). He wants to go to college, but is stuck in a dead-end job and just got the brush-off from the girl of his dreams (Mya). When a seductive older woman (Melyssa Ford) hires him for some very personal delivery services, Trey thinks he’s solved his problems, but things get more complicated. Extras: commentary, interviews, music video, behind-the-scenes, deleted scenes.

Vice

Genius Products, 98 minutes, R, $19.95

Michael Madsen is a tough guy detective working the drug beat. When a deal goes bad, his team members start getting killed and he has to cross the line between right and wrong. Sounds like a “Dirty Harry” clone. No extras listed.

October 28

Zombie Strippers

Sony, 94 minutes

Special Edition Rated (R) DVD: $24.96

Special Edition Unrated DVD: $29.96

Special Edition Unrated Blu-ray: $26.95

Secret government virus escapes in a strip club, first infecting Kat (Jenna Jameson), turning her into a super zombie stripper and the hit of the club. The other girls get jealous, but have to decide if they want to join the new “fad” even if it means there’s no return. Robert Englund of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series co-stars, presumably as a customer. Extras: digital copy for PC and PSP, commentary, deleted scenes, two featurettes. Blu-ray adds more deleted scenes, pop-up fact track, BD-Live connection.